


The Children's Protection Agency

by thesquidwardqtentaclesfiles



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Gen, Gunslinger Girl AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-12-05 07:26:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11573250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesquidwardqtentaclesfiles/pseuds/thesquidwardqtentaclesfiles
Summary: Maj. Nicole Haught struggles to prove that she's still a capable soldier after a botched mission in Iraq left her at the mercy of a cruel enemy for 2 years. She didn't however, think that her chance would come by partnering with a child cyborg.





	1. Selection

**Author's Note:**

> Guess who started another fic...  
> This asshole that's who.

Nicole paced the length of the corridor outside of the operating room. Her commanding officer, Colonel Tremblay, sat in an uncomfortable chair he’d stolen from the waiting room down the hall. Her heels clacked with every step. As he rubbed the bald spot on his shaved head, he wondered how she could keep up a pace like that without getting blisters.

He had his tablet out, “Her name is Waverly Earp, age eleven, only survivor of a brutal home invasion.”

Nicole nodded but continued to pace.

“Her father Ward, was the chief of police out in Mississauga. He was personally investigating an immigrant gang that had set up shop in town, seems they were looking to dodge the Toronto police. They didn’t like that clearly.”

“No arrests?” Nicole asked as she came to a halt in front of him.

He shook his head, “No witnesses, no evidence, no arrests.”

“Who else was killed?” She picked up her beret from the table next to him and began to fiddle with it.

He scrolled through the report, “Ward, his wife Wendy, and their eldest; Willa. Their middle child Wynonna is currently serving time in juvie for drug charges.”

“Lucky her.” Nicole whispered.

“Waverly was brought to Toronto General Hospital, where she was stabilized and transferred here, per Agent Chetri’s request.”

Here being St. Anne’s Hosptial, Canada’s largest military hospital. Where government doctors could add cybernetic implants away from prying civilian eyes.

The doors to the operating room swung open as the head surgeon strode out. Dr. Chen greeted the two soldiers, “The operation was a success,” he smiled, “I’m always a bit leery with these types of surgeries–”

“Why?” Nicole interrupted.           

His smile never wavered, “Sometimes the implants don’t take, the bodies reject them.”

Tremblay stood, placing his tablet back in his briefcase and grabbed his beret. “Can we see the child now?”

“She was just wheeled into recovery and won’t be awake for some time but you’re welcome to take a look.”

“Alright then come on Nic.” Tremblay and Nicole followed Dr. Chen to the recovery ward.

“So Major Haught is it?” Chen asked as they walked.

“Yeah why?”

“I hear you’re on the short list for guardianship.” He stopped in front of a room and ushered them in.

“Yeah uh–” It was more like forced in to the position.

“Well here she is,” he said gesturing towards a little girl. She was connected to more tubes and wires than Nicole had ever seen.

 “She uh…” words failed her.

Sensing her discomfort, Dr. Chen gently placed a hand on her shoulder, “This is only until her body get used to the implants, shouldn’t be more than a day or two.”

Nicole nodded, taking a deep breath in an attempt to steady her nerves. She hated seeing kids like this. She could barely look at the little girl without seeing the dozens of children she pulled from the rubble of homes obliterated by airstrikes, shellings, Christ knows what else. Bodies bloodied and broken.

“What will you name her?” Tremblay asked, snapping her back to reality.

“Her damn name.” Nicole replied bitterly.

Sensing an argument forming, Chen quietly excused himself.

Tremblay’s eyes narrowed until his crystal blues could barely be seen, “Do you want to jeopardize this program, because that’s exactly what you’re doing if she remembers anything from her previous life.”

Nicole laughed, and his grip on his briefcase tightened. Turning to him, she took two steps and was in his face, “Oh I’m sorry,” they were a hair’s width apart, “I thought your conditioning bullshit was supposed to prevent that from happening.”

He’d had enough of her. This was her last chance to stay in uniform and she was doing a phenomenal job of blowing it. He jabbed a finger into her chest, “It’s not fool proof you know that, and –jabs again– if you do anything to _fuck_ this up, you’ll see yourself in to the early retirement you should have had when the Americans found your wretched ass in Mosul last year!”

The anger that was bubbling inside threatened to spill over, to save herself from a court martial, Nicole hurriedly stuck the tan beret she was holding on her head and stormed out of the room.

Tremblay watched her go, mentally kicking himself.

They _drove_ from Petawawa to Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue.

Turning back to Waverly, he set his briefcase down and took the little girl’s tiny hand in his, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb, “I guess we’ll be seeing you in a couple of weeks.” He said to her softly, and threw a backwards glance at the door, “You’ll like Nicole. She’s not always such a jackass, just has a lot of anger inside of her.” His phone buzzed. It was Chetri. The Americans were finally agreeing to participate in the program. About time.

He stood, placing his beret on his head he picked up his briefcase. He looked to Waverly one last time before heading out the door.  

 

Two weeks later.

Nicole entered the observation room, already occupied by Tremblay, Dr. Chen, and Agent Chetri. The Colonel and Dr. Chen appeared to have decided on wearing CADPAT-TW like her. Which was a relief as her uniform was currently at Abby’s covered in marinara sauce.

And of course Agent Chetri looked dapper as always in a smart, slate grey suit.

“I think you should make yourself acquainted with your new charge Major.” Said Tremblay.

She nodded “Yes sir.” Walking over to the one-way mirror, she watched as Waverly, in a soft blue hospital gown, sat on her bed and brushed and braided a doll’s hair.

“It… she looks like… nothing happened.”

Agent Chetri beamed and joined her at the mirror, “Stem cells.”

Baffled she asked, “What?”

“Stem cells.” He repeated. “We made a gel using her stem cells and nanocytes and applied it to all of her open wounds. You see the nanocytes–”

In no mood to hear his technobabble, Nicole waved her hands, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, science crap, nerd stuff, modern medicine.”

Chetri’s mouth slammed shut so fast, everyone in the room could hear his teeth click together. He muttered something unintelligible and left the room.

“And he was so excited too.” Dr. Chen said with a chuckle. “You should go see her now, bond with her.”

Nicole looked to him, eyes wide, “I’m not ready yet.”

He let out a hearty laugh and crossed the room, “Relax she doesn’t know she’s dangerous yet.”

She looked horrified, “What?”

He laughed harder with his smile taking up the entirety of his round face. “I’m kidding… mostly.”

He clapped his hands on her shoulders and spun her around, pushing her towards the door. “Go, see her, talk to her.”

 “Fine.” She muttered and left the two men to meet her new partner.

Nicole slowly opened the door, peeking around it and trying her best to not look afraid. Waverly looked up at her suspiciously.

“Hi.” Nicole said, putting on her brightest smile.

“Hi.” Said Waverly, still giving her a wary look.

“I’m Nicole…”

“Hi.” Waverly repeated frowning slightly.

 _That’s right,_ Nicole thought, _poor kid doesn’t even know her own damn name._ She entered the room, shutting the door behind her

“You’re Waverly.”

Waverly looked at her skeptically. “I am?” She asked after a moment.

Nicole smiled, “Yes, you are.” She sat at the foot of the bed, hoping not to frighten the little girl.

“Oh… can I try on your hat?”

 _That went better than expected_. Nicole breathed a sigh of relief, “Yes absolutely.” She motioned for Waverly to sit in her lap.

The little girl scrambled to the end of the bed and plopped down on Nicole.

Tremblay and Chen watched as Nicole fixed her hat on a giggling Waverly’s head. “We’ll have to remind the Major that she’s not just a little girl anymore, but other than that I think this is going to work out just fine.” Chen said.

Tremblay just nodded.

He hoped so too. For Nicole’s sake.


	2. The little marksman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nicole ignores Tremblay's orders and acts like a fool instead. She also meets Lt. Xavier Dolls, a US soldier assigned to the cyborg program.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little fluff before the action.

“Do kids like Pokémon still?” Nicole asked Abby, her girlfriend.

“Oh my god Nic she’s an eleven year old girl, why are we in the electronics section?” Abby demanded. Nicole had called her after she had gotten out of court begging her to help her shop for a “little orphan girl”. Twenty minutes later the lawyer found herself in Walmart with her camo clad girlfriend.

They’d been there for an hour.

Nicole just blinked at her, “Coz Pokémon?” Abby just rolled her eyes and adjusted her dark blue blazer. 

“To reiterate, eleven year old girl.” Abby didn’t want to be in Walmart in her stuffy, uncomfortable matching skirt suit arguing over Pokémon.

Nicole frowned, “Why I liked Pokémon when it came out.”

Abby put her hands on her hips, “You were also eighteen when it came out.” She said, increasingly annoyed.

Nicole made a noncommittal sound while she browsed the case’s DS games.

“So tell me about this child you’ve decided to play Santa Claus for.”

She watched as Nicole’s face froze momentarily in terror before she plastered on a more solemn look.

Nicole was such a terrible liar Abby wondered how she ever lasted in an ISIS prison. But she let it slide, it was clearly connected to her work in Intel and probably classified.

It always was with Nicole.

Nicole turned to the blond, hoping the other woman didn’t notice her moment of panic. “Car accident, up on highway eleven.” Roads were slick this time of the year.

“Really?” Abby gave her a small, sly grin.

“Yeahhh,” oh she did not look convinced in the slightest, “I’m gonna get an employee, open up the case.”

Abby watched as Nicole hurried off. _Time to Google recent car accidents._ She pulled out her phone and did just that.

There was an article on it.

Daughter survives while mother, father, and sister are killed.

There were pictures.

_Damnit._

_Alright Nic, you win this round._ She put her phone back in her purse just as Nicole appeared with a harried looking young man.

“I want a pink one.” She demanded. The young man nodded his head and smiled brightly at her.

“Yes ma’am.” After opening the case, Nicole pushed past him, snatching up a pink DS, and two Pokémon games, then raced away with the carriage.

Abby quickly thanked the man and chased after Nicole.

 

“Little girls like Barbies right?” Nicole asked, while making faces at a shelf full of them.

“Some do.”

“’Kay,” she started throwing random boxes into the cart, “I guess these should be fine, what about Legos?”

She didn’t wait for a reply, instead she wandered into the boys’ toy isle muttering something about Star Wars Legos.

 

After nearly another full hour, the women entered the checkout line. Thankfully there was only one person ahead of them; a short, heavy set older white woman. Their cashier was a young dark skinned woman with curly blue hair.

As Nicole gave the cashier a friendly smile, Abby noticed the older woman giving them a disapproving stare. _Oh no, as long as she keeps her big mouth shut_.

“Early Christmas shopping for the kids?” The woman said, peering into their carriage.

“Just one, little girl in foster care.” Nicole replied.

The woman frowned, “You bought a little girl boys’ toys?”

Nicole’s smile dropped, “Well I have no idea what she likes.”

“You can’t buy a little girl Legos, she’ll turn out wrong.”

“I played with Legos and I turned out just fine.” Nicole shot back.

The woman looked her over, then her eyes went to Abby, then to their joined hands, and then back to Nicole. “Mmm-hmm, sure you did.” And wheeled her cart away.

The cashier burst out laughing, “Ooooh burn.”

Nicole shot the neon blue haired girl a death glare.

She abruptly stopped laughing, and Abby couldn’t help but giggle. 

 

“Fat little homophobe.” Nicole growled after they paid and were heading for the exit.

“Be the bigger woman.” Abby said, trying to placate Nicole’s anger.

“How can I, she was big enough for both of us!”

“Oh stop!” The bitterly cold November air hit them as they stepped through the automatic door, Abby shivered and hugged Nicole for warmth. “Oooh I should’ve brought my jacket.”

“Well stop trying to trip me and maybe we could get to the Jeep faster.”

Abby laughed, “Ass.” She said, shoving Nicole playfully.

“Uh, excuse me Miss.”

They both turned to face an older gentleman. White, with a full grey beard, stained blue jeans, and ratty Maple Leafs jacket he extended his hand to Nicole, “I wanted to thank you for your service.”

“Oh yeah,” she shook his hand, “uh, no problem.” and smiled, tight, but pleasant.

He smiled back and nodded, “You have a good evening.” and walked off.

“You too.”

They reached the jeep, “That bothers you, I saw it don’t lie.”

Nicole sighed, “I hate the fact that people feel like they _have_ to do that.”

Abby put the last of the bags in the back, “You don’t think they should be grateful?”

“It’s a free country they can be whatever they want, I just think it’s random.”

They got in the jeep and Abby cranked the heat as soon as the engine started.

“Oh whatever.”

“Yeah whatever, I’ll drop you off and call you tonight?”

Confused, Abby asked, “Why? You have plans?”

“Yeah late meeting sorry.” Nicole wouldn’t meet her eyes.

“Sure.”

 

With bags in each hand, Nicole sprinted across the base to the new dormitory that was built to house the child cyborgs. She wanted to beat Waverly, who was at training, back so she could surprise the little girl.

“And just what is in those bags?”

She stopped short, nearly falling over and swung around to face Colonel Tremblay.

He looked down at the bags and cocked an eyebrow, “Is that a Barbie doll?”

Nicole stood silently for a moment. “I just wanted her to like me.” She replied, embarrassed.

“It’s a cyborg Haught. It’s programed to like you, and will keeping liking you until you piss it off.” Crestfallen, Nicole turned and headed off towards the base’s apartment complex. _Oh for god’s sake,_ “Haught?” She stopped, but didn’t turn around, “I’m sure it will be thrilled if it got a Barbie.”

She dashed past him with a huge grin plastered on her face. He shook his head and continued on.

 

After setting up Nicole met Leon and the girls outside the building. “So how was it?”

He looked like a proud father, “They all did wonderful, didn’t miss a single shot.” He put a hand on top of Waverly’s head, “This young lady even managed to hit the bullseye on her first try with an MK-17.”

Waverly beamed and Nicole noticed another girl folding her arms and scrunching her face up. _Must be jealous, that’s sweet._ “We got ourselves a marksman here, ok guys dinner’s in twenty I’ll see you at the meeting.”

“Yep,” his smile faded quickly with its mention, “see you there.”

Nicole took Waverly’s hand and led her to the dorms, “I’ve got something to show you.” She said smiling.

Waverly looked skeptical but nodded.

Nicole was nervous. Waverly opened her bedroom door and stopped, eyes lighting up at all of the toys on the table in the middle of the room. She squealed and hugged Nicole; who nearly passed out from relief.

“This one’s my favorite!” She plucked up a Barbie box.

“I’m glad–”

“Umm…”

Nicole turned around to find the same little girl from earlier standing at the doorway. It was then Nicole noticed the bunk beds in the room. _Oh shit._

She looked absolutely heartbroken, “Your handler got you toys?”

Waverly looked horrified, “Umm, doesn’t yours?”

“No! Xavier never gets me anything!”

“The bastard.” Nicole muttered. Mortified, she was going to suggest they go see him before dinner when Waverly grabbed the girl’s hand and dragged her to the table.

“Pick any one you want Melanie.”

_Seems she hasn’t lost her ability to sympathize._ It dawned on Nicole that she may be the only handler still treating their new partner like a kid.

“I can?”

“Yes.”

Elated, Melanie scoured the table before her hands paused to hover over a Barbie doll set, hesitating for a moment before asking, “Are you sure?”

“Duh I already said.”

“Thank you!”

“Alright guys it’s almost dinner I got a meeting to get to.”

She guided the girls to the door, listening to them chatter happily about dolls and training.

 

The conference room wasn’t too crowded, just her, Tremblay, five other handlers, and Leon; who was requested to attend to update the group on the cyborgs’ progress. They sat around a circular table, and waited for Tremblay to set up the projector.

“So no finger sandwiches or anything?” Nicole whispered to Linda, who snorted into her cup of bad coffee.

“Shoulda ate with the robots girl.”

Nicole’s stomach rumbled, “I didn’t have any time.”

“Oh well.”

“Damnit.”

“Excuse me sir?”

The group turned to find a tall black man in a US Army uniform standing in the doorway.

“And you are?” Tremblay asked, while still fiddling with cables.

The man stood at attention, “Lieutenant Xavier Dolls United States Army.” He saluted.

Tremblay saluted back, “At ease son, take a seat we haven’t started yet.”

_Xavier? Wait a minute!_ Nicole swiveled to face him, “You don’t buy Melanie anything!”

He looked absolutely baffled and looked to Tremblay and the others before Linda intervened, “Just ignore her, she thinks the robots are still people.”

“They are!” Nicole countered bitterly, “You should have seen her face, she was crushed.”

Lieutenant Dolls was at a loss for words. The woman accosting him was a superior officer so a little sass was definitely out of the question. “I’m sorry ma’am, I was told that the cyborgs’ conditioning meant that they didn’t need gifts or affection.”

Knowing Nicole wouldn’t let it go Tremblay decided to put an end to her shenanigans, “As was she, _Haught_.” The warning tone in his voice had her scowling at the young lieutenant, but she relented and swiveled back to face the projector.

Continuing he added, “After we’re done here the two of you better kiss and make up. I do have you working the Svane case together.”

_Ah fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm turning the anon comments back on. Hopefully it doesn't backfire on me.  
> (doubt it lmao)

**Author's Note:**

> You know how long it took for me to come up with the summary? And I still hate it.


End file.
